Things We Lost In the Fire

Isn't This Love Unbreakable?

warning: Jasmin might piss you off in this chapter😂 Proceed, sorry it's a long one.

Later that night...

I had been replaying in my mind what I was going to tell him for the last few hours.

I tried watching a few episodes of What's Happening and Sanford & Son to pass the time but that proved pointless. It was growing closer and closer to midnight and I was growing restless.

I hadn't seen his face since earlier that morning and even when he was home it seemed as if we were walking on pins and needles around each other.

The excuse he used was, "I'm going to work on some tracks at Paisley." I mean what's the point of him putting a make-shift studio in the basement if he was only going to drive to Paisley Park?

The more I thought about him the more frequent the baby's movements were. I eventually found myself sitting Indian style on our bed in front of various baby catalogs and baby name books.

When I heard the alarm beep for our garage door it was almost 1AM. His heels clacked against the wood flooring in the hallway.

We immediately made eye contact as he entered through the double doors, removing his puffy white coat in the process. "Hey."

"Hey." My tone matched his monotonous one.

Pushing back the sheer cream canopy, he bent down to kiss my exposed stomach before meshing his soft lips with the corner of my mouth. I took his minute display of affection as a sign of hope.

"I hadn't seen you all day, I was just waiting up for you." I twiddled my fingers as I watched him discard of his blouse and carefully discard of all of his jewelry. He slowly unzipped his beige pants as he sauntered past me and flipped the light switch to the bathroom.

I began to question whether he had heard me until he threw over his shoulder, "You didn't have to do that, you need to rest." How can I rest when I'm constantly worrying about him & us?

Hearing the shower turn on behind the closed door, another piece of my heart broke away. I stared at the stark white door, hoping he would reappear and invite me in to bathe with him as we once regularly did. It was hitting me that our arguing was causing a rift in our relationship. At one point we were practically joined at the hip. But now I was so badly craving the touch of his flesh. I wanted to fall asleep in his arms, however the nights before we slept in our respective corners. As strong as I thought our bond was it felt like he was slipping from my grasp.

He reemerged minutes later in his silk maroon pajama pants and head scarf. Taking a seat on the chaise at the foot of our bed, he proceeded to apply his favorite non-scented lotion.

Neither of us had ever been at a loss for words. The silence in the room was so deafening that I had no choice but to spark conversation, no matter how random. "Were you in the studio alone or were you jamming with anyone else?"

He didn't miss a beat, rubbing the gooey substance into his forearm. "It was just me for a while, but then Larry and Kirk swung by."

Flipping to a page that displayed extravagant bassinets, I let out a low mutter I assumed only I could hear. "Of course Larry did."